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FESTIVAL BOOKS | Day Planner
DAY PLANNER Yasmin Sulaiman picks out some bookish highlights across the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
THURSDAY 14 Irma Kurtz She’s been Cosmopolitan magazine agony aunt for over 40 years; now Irma Kurtz is here to tell us how much society has changed over that time. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 10am, £10 (£8).
FRIDAY 15
Sophie Hannah The queen of crime fiction chats about The Telling Error, the ninth book in the Culver Valley Crime series. Later this year, she also releases a new Hercule Poirot mystery, The Monogram Murders. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 6.45pm, £10 (£8). Julian Cope One of this year’s most anticipated events, the former frontman of the Teardrop Explodes talks about his first book, One Three One: A Time- Shifting Gnostic Hooligan Road Novel. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 9.30pm, £10 (£8). SATURDAY 16
Lucy Worsely: A Very British Murder Following her BBC4 TV series, historian and presenter Lucy Worsely investigates the public appetite for murder most foul. Assembly Rooms, 0844 693 3008, 12.20pm, £10. Luke Wright Fringe favourite and founder of Aisle 16 (along with Ross Sutherland, who’s in Standby for Backup Tape at Summerhall), the performance poet lands with alter ego Fat Dandy. Part of the Babble On spoken word strand. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 7pm, £7 (£5).
SUNDAY 17
You Are Not Alone Award-winning local writer Nicola Morgan teams up with writers Dawn McNiff and Donna Cooner to talk about coping with teenage stress. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 4pm, £7 (£5). John Gordon Sinclair Actor-turned- writer Sinclair discusses his second novel Blood Whispers. It’s set in Glasgow and features the CIA and Serbian gangs – just don’t mention Gregory’s Girl. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 8.30pm, £10 (£8). Jim Lambie’s Poetry Club Tonight’s Unbound is a special edition of artist Jim Lambie’s legendary Glasgow Poetry Club. Lambie’s retrospective show is currently running at the Fruitmarket Gallery too. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 9pm, free. MONDAY 18
Liz Lochhead: Somethings Old, Somethings New Scotland’s Makar gives us a retrospective of 45 years of poetry, lyrics and plays. Accompanied by Steve Kettley on saxophone. Assembly Rooms, 0844 693 3008, until 24 Aug, 12.15pm, £10 (£9). Yeti Absurdist comedy from performance poet Gary from Leeds – after which you’ll be closer to discovering your inner yeti. Royal Oak, 557 2976, until 23 Aug (not 17), 1pm, free. Applied Mathematics: Spoken Word for Geeks Spoken word specialist Dan Simpson gives us 50 minutes of videogame verse and meta- metre. Cortado Caf, 554 3493, 16–24 Aug, 2.45pm, free. 40 THE LIST FESTIVAL 14–25 Aug 2014
MARTIN AMIS One of Britain’s most acclaimed authors returns to the Edinburgh International Book Festival to talk about his new book, The Zone of Interest. Revisiting the Holocaust for the first time since 1991’s Time’s Arrow, the novel is set against the harsh backdrop of a concentration camp. Alongside plenty of his trademark satirical bite, Amis tempers the bleak surroundings with moments of unexpected tenderness as love blooms between a Nazi official and the wife of a camp commandant. (Colin Robertson) ■ Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, Aug 24, 8pm, £10 (£8).
TUESDAY 19 FRIDAY 22
SUNDAY 24
Zakes Mda The acclaimed South African novelist chats about his back catalogue and new novel, The Sculptors of Mapungubwe. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 5pm, £10 (£8). Kate Adie See the former BBC news reporter in conversation with fellow BBC journalist Allan Little; they talk about her landmark reports, from Lockerbie to Tiananmen Square. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 8pm, £10 (£8). WEDNESDAY 20
Germaine Greer The iconic feminist author talks to Ruth Wishart about White Beech, her new book about rebuilding wild nature. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 3pm, £10 (£8). Loud Poets Collective of local poets perform with a live band to showcase the best of spoken word, slam-style. Scottish Storytelling Centre, 556 9579, 20 & 24 Aug, 9pm, £8 (£6). just Festival, 228 4249, 15 & 22 Aug, 10pm, £8 (£6).
THURSDAY 21
Lynn Barber The notorious journalist – whose early life was chronicled in the film An Education – chats to author Kate Mosse about her memoir, A Curious Career. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 3pm, £10 (£8). Alan Warner The Morvern Callar author talks about his new novel, Their Lips Talk of Mischief. Oh, and did we mention? He’s written an exclusive short story for us too. See page 21. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 7pm, £10 (£8).
Mary Talbot, Kate Charlesworth and Bryan Talbot The trio talk about their graphic novel Sally Heathcote: Suffragette at Word Power’s Book Fringe. Mary and Brian Talbot’s Dotter of her Father’s Eyes was the first graphic novel to win the Costa Book Award for Biography. Word Power Books, 662 9112, 1pm, free. Gruff Rhys Super Furry Animals and Neon Neon frontman talks about his memoir, American Interior, which retraces the steps of a Welsh farmhand’s journey to the USA. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 8.30pm, £10 (£8). Irvine Welsh The Trainspotting author returns to home turf to discuss his newest Miami-set novel, The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins. He’ll also chat to Denise Mina about his contribution to graphic novel IDP: 2043 on 23 Aug. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 9.30pm, £10 (£8). SATURDAY 23
Blake Morrison Poet and writer Morrison reads from his poetry collection This Poem, which addresses contemporary news stories from phone hacking to Jimmy Saville. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 5pm, £7 (£5). Letters Home The Book Festival’s promenade theatre piece: a Grid Iron production based on letters written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Kei Miller, Christos Tsiolkas and Kamila Shamsie. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, until 25 Aug (not 19), 6.15pm, £15 (£12).
Jeremy Paxman The erstwhile Newsnight presenter and author of Great Britain’s Great War talks about life during World War One. Part of the Book Festival’s Words and War strand. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 11.30am, £10 (£8). We’re Going on a Bear Hunt with Michael Rosen Come and celebrate 25 years of Rosen’s classic children’s book. For families and children aged seven and up. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 1.30pm, £4.50. MONDAY 25
Kerry Hudson and Simon Van Booy Kerry Hudson talks about new novel Thirst, which follows blistering 2012 debut, Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma. Brooklyn author Simon Van Booy chats about love story, Everything Beautiful Began After. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 3.30pm, £7 (£5). Sarah Waters One of Britain’s best- loved contemporary authors, Waters is here to chat about her new novel The Paying Guests, which is set between the two World Wars. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 8pm, £10 (£8). Peter May He’s best known as the author of the Lewis trilogy but today May discusses his new standalone thriller, Entry Island, set on a remote Canadian island with Gaelic speaking communities. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 7pm, £10 (£8). Peter Ross The award-winning journalist – and former List staff member – chats about Daunderlust, his entrancing collection of real-life tales from all over Scotland. Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, 8.30pm, £7 (£5).